Ball and socket support for work holders



March 23, 1954 J. w. SLAVIK BALL AND SOCKET SUPPORT FOR WORK HOLDERS Filed Jan. 9. 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 JOHN W Sum/r March 23, 1954 J w SLAVlK 2,673,054

BALL AND SOCKET SUPPORT FOR WORK HOLDERS Filed Jan. 9, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ill 4- 28 /3 2? I x 20 If M 7 'r' {ll/111 11 \o E K L s\\,/ Z3;

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JOHN W. Sum/r Patented Mar. 23, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIcr. I

BALL AND socKE'r SUPPORT FOR WORK HOLDERS I John W. Slavik, Warren, Ohio Application January 9, 1952, Serial No. 265,701

2 Claims. I I a 1 My invention relates to a support; more particularly to a support for a vise and the like, and

the principal object of my invention is to provide new and described.

improved supports of the class I In the arts which require use of a vise and the like, a great need has existed for a support which would enable the vise to be positioned in other than its normal horizontal position so as to hold the work most advantageously. Attempts have been made in thepast to provide such a support but these attempts have been largely unsuccessful except for relatively light work such as model making. Prior art devices have been completely unsuccessful in providing a support with suflicient rigidity to enable its use with large vises and heavy work.

My invention provides a support for a vise and the like of great flexibility which permits the vise to be easily positioned and securely locked in such position even though holding relatively heavy work. The support lends itself well to mass-production economies and is reliable in use. These and other advantages will become apparent from a stu y of the detailed description which, follows. a

In the drawings accompanying this specification and forming a part of this application there is shown, for purpose of illustration, an embodiment which my invention may assume, and in these drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred form ofmy invention illustrating its use in supporting a conventional vise in horizontal position;

Figure 2 is an-end elevational view of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1, another position of the vise being shown in dot-dash lines;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure l but showing the support of my invention in longitudinal section, the vise supported thereby being shown in one position by full lines and in another position by dot-dash lines; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view generally corresponding to the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

As illustrated in the drawings, my invention comprises a support indicated generally at I 0 and having an outwardly extending arm II to which may be secured a conventional vise I2. It is to be understood that devices other than a vise could be secured to the arm II, and as examples a table or a machine tool or the like could easily be secured to the arm II in place of the vise I2.

2 Referring particularly to Figure 3, the support I0 is presently shown to comprise a tubular member I3 having both ends open. The opening I 4 on the left (as viewed in Figure 3)" is adapted to provide an annular seat for a ball I5, and the opening on the right is adapted to be covered by an end cover plate I6. As illustrated in the drawings, the arm II is secured to the ball I5 and is adapted to extend laterally therefrom, the arm II presently being provided with a mounting plate IIa to which the vise I2 may be secured.

An annular member I! is slideable in the bore I8 of the tubular member I3, and the member I! has one end thereof formed to provide agenerally semi-spherical opening I 9 to receive the ball I5. This semi-spherical opening is presently lined with a relatively easily deformable material 20, such as lead, for a purpose to be shown.

A lever 2| is disposed within the member I3 and positioned transverse to the longitudinal axis thereof, opposed slots 22 in the member I3 preventing rotation of the lever and holding it in the transverse position shown. One end of the lever 2I bears against a fixed stud 23 secured in the end plate I6 and the other end of the lever, in the present embodiment, bears against a screw 24 which is threaded through the plate I6. A hand-wheel 25 is secured to the screw 24 to provide means for rotating the screw. A ball 26 is interposed between the member I! and the lever 2i, a depression 21 in the member I'I providing a seat for the ball and preventing displacement thereof. I I

A set-screw 28, having a lock-nut 30, extends through the wall of the tubular member I3 and as best shown in Figure 3, the set-screw 28 is engageable with the sides of a slot 29 in the member IT. This set-screw performs the function of a key and prevents rotation of the member I1 with respect to the tubular member I3.

As shown in Figure 1, the means for securing the end cover plate I6 to the tubular member I3 may comprise bolts I 6a which pass through apertures in the plate I6 and which are threadably engageable with the member I3.

In operation, and assuming that the support II) has been secured to a bench or the like by means of bolts 3| which pass through apertures in feet 32 formed on the member I3, the vise may be moved to the desired position and then locked in such position by rotating the handwheel 25 so as to move the screw 24 to the left. It will be appreciated that only a few of the many possible positions of the vise have been illustrated in the drawings, and if the vise is provided with the usual swivel base, as suggested in the drawings, it may additionally be rotated about its base in the usual manner.

When the screw 2a is moved to the left as heretofore described, it will rotate the lever 2! about the stud 23 which serves as a fulcrum. The ball 26 will be moved to the left thus forcing the member ll into engagement with the ball l5. Since a comparatively high coefiicient of friction is developed between the ball i and the relatively easily deformable material 28, and since the pressure exerted by the screw 24! is multiplied by the action of the lever 2i, the ball It may be securely locked against rotation with the application of very little rotative effort supplied to the handwheel 25.

To reposition the vise, the holding pressure on the ball must first be slightly relaxed by turning the hand-wheel 25. Since the holding pressure remaining will be just sufficient to prevent shifting of the vise by gravity, theuser may grasp the-vise and quickly and easily move it to the desired position. The hand-wheel 25 may then be rotated in the direction to securely lock the ball against rotation and thereby prevent further shifting movement of the vise.

In View of the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that I have accomplished at least the principal object of my invention and it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiment herein described may be variously changed and modified, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that the invention is capable of uses and has advantages not herein specifically described, hence it will be appreciated that the herein disclosed embodiment is illustrative only, and that my invention is not limited thereto.

I claim 1. A work positioning device, comprising a spherical member having means for attaching a work holder thereto, a tubular body enclosing said spherical member, said body being partially closed at one end to provide an internal annular seat for and conforming to the surface of said spherical member, a socket member housed within said body and movable axially toward said spherical member for holding the latter against said seat, a cap for closing the opposite end of said tubular body, a fulcrum carried by said cap in offset relation with respect to the axis of said socket member, a lever member housed within and extending transversely of said body, said lever member having one end bearing against said fulcrum, a ball disposed axially of said socket member and inter- A posed between the latter and said lever member, and means engageable with the opposite end of said lever for rocking the latter on its fulcrum and to transmit pressure through said ball to said socket member to force the latter against said spherical member.

2. A work positioning device, comprising a spherical member having means for attaching a work holder thereto, a tubular body enclosing said spherical member, said body being partially closed at one end to provide an internal annular seat for and conforming to the surface of said spherical member, a socket member housed within said body and movable axially toward said spherical member for holding the latter against its seat, means in part carried by said socket member and in part carried by said body for holding said socket member against rotation about its axis and including a slot extending in the direction of axial movement of said socket member and a set screw having a portion slidably fitting in said slot, a cap for closing the opposite end of said tubular body, a fulcrum carried by said cap in offset relation with respect to the axis of said socket member, a lever member housed within and extending transversely of said body, opposite ends of said lever member being slidably received within diametrically opposed slots formed in the inner wall of said body to hold said lever member against rotation about the axis of said socket member, said lever member having one end bearing against said fulcrum, a ball disposed axially of said socket member and interposed between the latter and said socket member, and a screw member threaded through said cap and having an end engageable with the opposite end of said lever, whereby inward threading of said screw -mei iber applies pressure against said lever and rocks the latter on its fulcrum to transmit pressure through said ball to said socket member to force the latter against said spherical member.

JOHN JV. SLAVIK.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 318,480 Hendrick May 26, 1885 654,051 Brown et al. July 17, 1900 2,846,346 Anderson Apr. 11, 1944 2,354,937 Barker Aug. 1, 1944 2,444,541 Strickland July 6, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 535,305 Great Britain Apr. 4, 1941 

